Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin. The current sonnet sequence, working title "My Human Disguise," of ekphrastic poems, after paintings and other images (posted each Thursday), was begun February, 2011.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

River Under the Trees (Gauguin)

#126

On low descending stairs, the river steps
Past pebbles and deadfall, seeking the end.
The trees watch -- silent, impassive adepts --
Unmindful of what lies beyond the bend.
I've tossed the fly a hundred thousand times
This afternoon and have not raised a trout,
Though I see them, shadows beneath the pines,
Elusive as a vaguely recalled doubt.
A pileated woodpecker alights
On a dead tree, plants himself, and, ripping
At an oblong hole, flings wood left and right --
All those scrambling ants he is sipping.
I leave the river before he's flown off,
My creel empty, my mind rasped and rough.

About Me

I spent 26 years in the symphony orchestra business, 20 of them as President of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. I have two degrees in English Literature from Northern Illinois University. My lovely wife Ruth and my two daughters, Julia and Alice, are all talented artists.